6 ‘n 90! Da Man reviews six films in ninety seconds.
The Islander is where guests are interviewed by Nancy and asked to pick the ten films they would take with them to a desert island. Nancy’s guest this week is actor Carleton Carpenter. Carleton has acted on TV, film, and the stage.
Toy Story 3. It’s Pixar! It’s in 3D! It’s dark and edgy! What’s not to like? Listen and find out.
Lee Patrick
In its heyday, Hollywood showcased dozens upon dozens of wonderful character actresses. As with their male counterparts, most of them fell into “types,” roles for which they were well suited and extremely competent and reliable. Looking for a ditzy dame? Call upon Joyce Compton (The Awful Truth [1938], Christmas in Connecticut [1945]) or Barbara Nichols (Sweet Smell of Success [1957], Pal Joey [1957]). Need a high-toned, fussy society woman? Get in touch with Florence Bates (Heaven Can Wait [1943], The Devil and Miss Jones [1941]) or Edna May Oliver (Ann Vickers [1933], Pride and Prejudice [1940]). Want the ultimate kind, gentle, and understanding mother? Look no further then Fay Bainter (Young Tom Edison[1940], The Human Comedy [1943]) or, if the child in question is Jimmy Stewart, Beulah Bondi (Stewart’s onscreen mother in a record four films: Vivacious Lady[1938], Of Human Hearts [1938], Mr. Smith Goes to Washington [1939], and It’s a Wonderful Life [1946]).
And that’s fine. It’s the way it should be. As an audience, we look to these women to fulfill a specific role with great competence and gentle dignity (yes, even the ditzy dames).
What we don’t often see is the onscreen growth from one type of character into another. And another. But that’s exactly the sort of metamorphosis that character actress Lee Patrick achieved throughout the course of her long tenure as a bona fide character actress in Tinsel Town.
6 ‘n 90! Da Man reviews six films in ninety seconds.
Marmaduke. He’s making the big move to Cali and livin’ large in the OC. Of course, Marmaduke lives large wherever he is–except maybe at the box office.
The A-Team. They specialize in the ridiculous. Ridiculous story. Ridiculous characters. Ridiculous action.
When writer/producer David Jacobs joined me recently on “The Islander,” he had a lot to say about some of the films he loves, including why he is fond of them and what makes them stand-out cinematic achievements. In this bonus audio clip, David uses his same keen understanding and appreciation of movies to discern what went horribly wrong with three films that should have been great but weren’t: The Chase (1966), The Cotton Club (1984), and Angela’s Ashes (1999).
6 ‘n 90! Da Man reviews six films in ninety seconds.
The Islander. Nancy concludes her interview with David Jacobs, the creator of both Dallas and Knots Landing. David reveals the remainder of his desert island picks.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. We’re not even half way through the summer and already a second film about time travel is playing in the theaters. The unavoidable question that has to be asked is, “If you could travel back in time and only avoid seeing one time travel film, which one would it be: Hot Tub Time Machine or The Prince of Persia?” And no fair picking Marmaduke. Just because time seems to stand still, doesn’t make it a time travel movie.
The great character actors of Hollywood’s “Golden Era” (a time I’d place from the 1930’s to the 1950’s, give or take a few years on either side) filled an important niche in the films cranked out by the major studios. They were a dependable group of “types”: ditzy blondes, bombastic fatheads, loopy old maids, smart-aleck loudmouths; once their image was imprinted on the celluloid and projected on the screen, you knew what you were getting. Moreover, you could be assured that what you were getting would be good. The plot might be weak, the leading actors sub par, the direction lackadaisical, but the great character actors always delivered. Were they often typecast? Well, of course. But they portrayed, and portrayed excellently, a type that filmgoers then and today grew to love and respect.
6 ‘n 90! Da Man reviews six films in ninety seconds.
The Islander is where guests are interviewed by Nancy and asked to pick the ten films they would take with them to a desert island. Nancy’s guest this week is David Jacobs: producer, director, author, and creator of both Dallas and Knots Landing.
Harry Brown. What I want to know is, where’s the Harry Brown action figure? It could come with play money to drop everywhere in a drunken stupor, an asthma inhaler, and a cell phone that you can hear his old codger buddy being killed on. Depressing drug den and graffiti covered, urine stained pedestrian underpass sold separately.
Between 2004 and 2008, while I was assiduously running a reading program and computer lab at an inner-city LAUSD school, I was also spending a lot of time checking into a blog called Defamer (only on my breaks, taxpayers…never fear). Sadly, Defamer is virtually gone now, swallowed whole by its big brother, Gawker, but for those four years, it was one of the best reads on the ‘net. It was a Hollywoood gossip blog. There’s plenty of those out there, and they are usually filled with snarky jabs and easy pot shots (I’m looking at you, Perez Hilton, and your blog-writing underlings). Defamer had something special going for it…the quality of the writing, which was unlike anything else out there in the vast blogosphere of gossip.
The reason was Mark Lisanti, founding editor of Defamer, and our guest on “The Islander.”
6 ‘n 90! Da Man reviews six movies in ninety seconds.
Defendor. He can’t spell, he can’t fight, and he pays a prostitute 40 dollars a day to be his friend. A new hero for a new time? Or just a direct to DVD mess?
Iron Man 2. This sequel has more of everything: story lines, villains, and not just one Iron Man but two! So how come it feels like something is missing?
ASTRO BOY. Hey, I can understand wanting to replace your dead son with a robot. You’re a futuristic Geppetto, you got the smarts and the tech to do it, knock yourself out. But I gotta say, if I’m the one responsible for deep-sixing my kid (even if it was an accident), I might not equip his robot replacement with hands that turn into blasters and machine guns that pop out of his butt. I mean, let’s face it, dad’s pretty much the one proven threat the kid might have. So if it’s me designing the robot, I’d lose the anal hardware and stick with the jets in the feet.
Jim Rutherford
Nancy Louise Rutherford
Lou Aguilar
The Misfits
